“You can’t punch the gay out of me any more than I can punch the ignoramus out of you.”: Never Been Kissed (2×6) Gleecap

If I’ve ever complained that Glee is predictable, after watching this episode I take most of it back (most of it, because I still thought it was incredibly obvious that New Directions wouldn’t win Regionals).”Never Been Kissed” pulled out all the stops, while also tackling the issue of high school bullying. And while I sometimes have complaints about how Glee handles its “themes of the week,” particularly ones of such a serious nature, I thought that Glee dealt with this issue extremely effectively. Kurt’s right – we all see him bullied day in and day out, but it’s never been really addressed until this week, and the introduction of Blaine as a mentor/guardian angel character is key to Kurt’s development as a gay teen. I’m really looking forward to see him continue to come into his own with the help of Blaine. But more on that later, let’s look at the highlights and lowlights of this week’s episode:

Blaine, I think you're every girl (and gay guy's) "Teenage Dream"

Best Song: Darren Criss officially stole my heart after the first time I watched his performance of “Teenage Dream” on YouTube last week. Now that I’ve watched the performance about a dozen or so more times, my love has only grown stronger. Darren Criss is adorable as Blaine and this performance was incredible, with the help of Tufts’ University’s a cappella group The Beelzebubs on background vocals. I really can’t believe that I can love a cover of a Katy Perry song this much. (I should note that all of the musical numbers were great this week, helping add to my overall love for the episode. I loved both the mash-ups, but the girls won it for me. This may or may not be because of my Bon Jovi love.)

Favourite Quotes:

Santana: “If everyone just put out, we would have a winning football team.”

Kurt: “You can’t punch the gay out of me any more than I can punch the ignoramus out of you.”

Sue: “You gotta show him who’s the boss. Great. Now I picture them making out to an episode of Who’s the Boss.”

Puck: “There’s no way I’m going back to juvy. There’s no chicks and no Kosher meals in that place.”

Best. Bowtie. Ever.

Most Hilarious Clothing Choice: Did anyone else notice that amazing glass/plastic clock bow tie that Kurt was wearing? Check it out in the picture to the right. Way too funny.

Favourite Character: Coach Beiste hasn’t gotten that much of a chance to shine yet this season, but she truly made her mark this week. From her sweet, honest scenes with Will, to her hilarious “cool off” scenes in tutus and Cheerios outfits, Beiste blew me away this week and I really hope we continue to see more of her. Of course, some love must be given to Kurt and Blaine this week, too, who were both fantastic as well.

Best Curveball: And while we’re mentioning the title, let’s give credit where credit is due and mention how incredibly stunned I was by the Kurt/Karofsky locker room scene. Kurt’s “never been kissed” and he finally gets his first kiss…from Karofsky?! Seriously, Glee, what a curveball! I seriously didn’t see this coming from a mile away and sat gaping open-mouthed at my TV screen. Did any of you see this coming? I’ve heard that some gleeks did, but I totally didn’t somehow! Share your thoughts in the comments, please!

Coach Beiste showed amazing range in this week's episode

Best Character Redemption from Last Episode: Some of you might remember that I kind of railed on Will for being a selfish jerk in the last episode, but I am very happy to give him some due recognition for his turn-around this week. Will was back to his sweet, caring self in his scenes with Coach Beiste, especially their locker room scene. It had never occurred to me that Beiste could be one of the characters that this episode’s title was referring to, but what a great twist, and how adorable of Will to give her that first kiss. Good on ya, Will, good on ya.

Weak Point: There really wasn’t very much that I didn’t love in this week’s episode, but I do feel the need to pick at one incredibly cheesy scene: Kurt and Blaine “taking a shortcut” to see the Warblers sing. Slo-mo? Overly sappy background music? Really awkward running because Blaine’s right hand was holding Kurt’s right hand, causing Kurt’s arm to be stretched across the front of his body as he ran? This scene just made me giggle way too much for all the wrong reasons.

Next week: Get ready for a whole lotta Gwyneth! When Will gets ill, substitute teacher Holly Holiday (played by guest star Gwyneth Paltrow) steps in and shakes things up with the glee club. Tune in next week for Gwyneth, Principal Sue, and the return of Terri!

I LOOOOVED this episode. The whole Kurt/Blaine relationship was soo cute, and I hope to see more of it. I am so happy that Kurt finally found someone who will make him happy. I loved his smile when Blaine was singing teenage dream, it just kept getting bigger and bigger. 😀 Yeah, the slow-mo running scene was cheesy but cute. I totally said that “Karofsky is probably a big closet case” and when Kurt got up in his face I knew that was it. Because most straight guys don’t care that much. So yeah, that’s me awesome comeback whenever I see some homophobe picking on someone, they must be gay themselves! *Works every time* All in all a great episode and I can’t wait fir next week!!!! 🙂

I can honestly say, I was just surprised of the episode as you were. I mean, I’ve seen a closeted homophobe gay from another show, (Does this jock remind you of a character from Degrassi, or is it just me?) but I did NOT see the Karofsky being gay/confused/whatever coming. Now that I look back, the Glee show didn’t fully recognize the problematics of bullying. Nor did the teachers. But one of my favorite scenes was when Blaine and Kurt where at lunch and the guys mention how they “Accept you whatever you are.” and then Kurt had to tear up at that… It just shows how serious the bullying had affected him and how serious it truly is. Also, I did notice the right hand/right hand awkward moment as well. I had to laugh too… xD Plus, it doesn’t help that they had a slow-mo romance moment like straight after they met. O_o. Even the Coach Beiste/Will thing threw me off. But I’m just glad that we didn’t really focus on Will’s pining for Emma from afar.
I never liked ‘Teenage Dream’ too much before this episode… 😉
I don’t really know how exactly Blaine will fit into the whole show, however. I DO want to see more of him with Kurt, that’s for sure. But let’s not forget he’s on an opposing school’s Glee club, and I really don’t think the writers are going to do a repeat of a Jesse/Rachel. Albeit, Rachel was a bit dramatic on how their love was ‘real’ after like the first date. But at the same time, Blaine’s way more sincere, and as he said, Kurt barely even came to really spy on them, so I feel like we can trust him. We have to realize, Kurt DESERVES a man through all the taunting of being gay…because he’s never even really had a chance to be physically gay with a boy!
I’m excited for next week’s episode slightly… The previews don’t give me much hope that it will top this episode. But… Holly Holiday does sound like a porn star name…. or a cartoon character’s name…

I totally didn’t see it coming. But I thought it was brilliant to bring to light this kid that was just a background bully, really nothing more from day one and all of a sudden, there was something more. Me and my sister both gasped!

I saw the kiss coming, but only because there’s research (and PLENTY of news items featuring outspoken Christian leaders with hypocritical personal practices!) showing a correlation between aggressive homophobia and homosexual desire, and this correlation is regularly integrated into coping tactics / comeback strategies for bullied queer youth. When not a word of this dominant contemporary narrative emerged in the first half of the show, I realized the writers were pointedly excising that argument for a reason: to create the sense of surprise accompanying that ultimate kiss.

What DID surprise me, though, was the lack of consolatory nookie care of Blaine. I was biting my nails to the quick waiting and waiting for that beautiful scene to emerge… annnnd it didn’t. That, for me, was the crushing shocker: that Kurt’s been left to deal with this turn of events for more than the course of a single episode, on top of everything else that’s been dumped in his lap this season. Yikes.

However, I found the Beiste kiss exquisite. Every sincere line that woman utters is perfectly wrought: what an immaculate fit of actress to character! So yes, you’re absolutely right, Suzie. This episode broke through the familiar (even cozy) routine of the series to deliver more than its intrinsic store of surprises: it also absolutely heightened at least this viewer’s anticipation for next week’s heart-rending batch!

I totally did not see that curveball coming either, Suzie! I mean, woah! I love studying homosexuality in and around characters, so you would think that guessing Karofsky the homophobe is actually “in the closet” would have been first on my mind. But I was as surprised as you were. :0 Total bummer though that that was Kurt’s first kiss (that I did see coming, and it was heartbreaking).

I agree with you on all the other points too – mash-ups were awesome (girls won me over this time too), Darren Criss is also awesome (what a cutie he is), and it was great getting to see Coach Beiste in another storyline. Gotta give my favorite quote of the episode to Blaine, though – “Well, he’s not coming out anytime soon.” 🙂

I loved this episode! I loved the whole locker room scene with Beiste and Will. I never really took much notice of Beiste before but i think this episode really bought her out. I predicted that kiss as soon as she said “I’ve never been kissed, Will” and then he sort of looked at her and I was like “Ooooh, here we go.”. I did not see that gay kiss coming! I thought he was gnna punch Kurt nd then when he kissed him I literally spat out my drink and started squealing!

I enjoyed watching the episode, but I had some serious issues with it. The idea that it’s your responsibility to stand up to your bullies and the worst thing that can happen is that he gives you a kiss kind of pissed me off.
They have plenty of time to correct that mistake in the next couple of episodes though. He’s my favourite character, but I’m sad to say that Kurt needs to get hurt. You can’t tackle the bullying issue and belittle it like that. And Will needs to feel guilty about not helping him.
I actually did see the kiss coming, but it still shocked me because my thought process was “Perfect moment to pull an “American Beauty”… nah, they wouldn’t.”
As for the Beiste scene, I didn’t like it. It’s totally unrealistic that she would have never been kissed. I have a friend who is uglier than her, and she’s had two boyfriends. And Will’s kiss is condescending.
I love this show, but this last episode disappointed me.
I think Beiste should hook up with last season’s coach (maybe he can come on. They have a lot in common and I think they’d make a sweet couple.
And I’m looking forward to watching Kurt and Blaine’s blossoming romance. They’re the most adorable thing 🙂

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